Saturday 22 November 2014

Thank you, thank you, thank you

My almost 3 months in Kenya this time has been amazing!
God has richly blessed me and often it has been through people.
So many people have helped to make my time here a blessing to others and to me.
As God has blessed me through you, may he richly bless you.

●For all who visited me during my time in hospital here.
●Pastor William Eyika of Elyon Christian Mission, for the generous provision of a car for my use during my time here.
●Joshua Maraka, of Chosen Children of Promise for all your assistance.
●All the team at CCP, for your friendship and hospitality - making me feel a part of your team.
●My many friends at Lifespring Chapel, for your encouragement and support.
●Stella Mwangi, for helping me coordinate everything, for your encouragement, support and continuing friendship.
●The local Pastors, who invited me to share the pulpit.
●Covenant Guest House, for once again making me feel at home.
●New and old friends, for filling my life with joy.
●My family in Australia,  for understanding my need to make this trip, for all your love and support.
●God, who made it all happen and continues to abundantly bless me.

Inaweza Mungu ambariki awabariki

Asante sana

Friday 21 November 2014

Such mixed feelings

My time in Kenya this trip (nearly 3 months) is almost finished. I fly back to Australia on Sunday (tomorrow).

Why am I torn between two places?

I know that I am missed back in Australia,  especially by family, but God has given me a passion for ministry on Kenya. Even though I have not yet left Kenya, I find myself thinking about how soon until I return, praying - Lord, show me the way.

I know that I have said it before about my time in Kenya, each time, it is a life changing experience. I have learnt so much about myself, my gifts and my talents but mostly about reliance upon God.

During this trip, God has blessed me in so many ways, confirmed my ministry here and that has increased my desire to move here.
I look forward to returning to Kenya soon.

Sunday 16 November 2014

Last Minute Changes

On these last few Sundays here in Kenya I have been invited to preach at a number churches.

I normally prepare well in advance and have everything ready 4 or 5 days in advance.

However, these last two Sundays although this has been the case, God has prompted last minute full rewrites.

Yet again, what appears to be my theme verse for this trip keeps coming to mind.

2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Monday 10 November 2014

So Different

Today I attended two very different churches.  This morning I preached at Christian Family Worship Centre at N'gando.  It is a vibrant church full of music, clapping & dancing.

Tonight I attended All Saint's Anglican Cathedral in Nairobi.  They still use the 1962 Book of Common Prayer and they have a choir, complete with robes.

Although the styles are very different,  they both worship the one & only true God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of everything.
Today, both of these churches fullfilled the mandate given in Heb 10.

Hebrews 10:23-25 NIV
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. [24] And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. [25] Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another---and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Bwana asifiwe, Bwana asifiwe tena!

Saturday 1 November 2014

The truth about Halloween

I came across this information and I must share it. I know many  people might not agree but hopefully it will make some people rethink their involvement.

Thank God for His Grace! I truly believe that once you come to the knowledge or revelation of something, you are then responsible....... In doing research, getting information from people and gathering information from various sources, my mother and I came across some startling and very eye opening facts about the origins of activities, from what we use to consider a fun and harmless time of the year.

Did you know..............

      Trick or treating and wearing costumes were first done by the Druids to keep themselves safe from evil spirits?

      Bobbing for Apples was done to obtain favor with the evil spirits. People would kneel around a tub of water filled with apples. The first person to get an apple without using their hands, would have good luck and favor from the spirits for the coming year.

      Bonfires originally came from these nights of human and animal sacrifices where they would throw the remains of the bodies into the fire. The next morning all that was left were ashes and bones- thus the name bonefIres- bonfIres.

      If this information is not enough, here are 10 more reasons that Kerby Anderson, an author, broadcaster and CEO of a Christian Think Tank Ministry, gives us.

10 Reasons Christians Should Not Celebrate Halloween.

1. October 31st. Has long been known as "The Festival of the Dead." The Celtic tribes and their priests the Druids celebrated this day as a marker for the change from life to death.

2. Halloween today is performed usually by adherents of witchcraft who use the night for their rituals. Witches celebrate Halloween as the "Feast of Samhain" the first feast of the witchcraft year. Being a festival of the dead, Halloween is a time when witches attempt to communicate with the dead through various forms of divination.

3. Christians should not be involved with occultic practice or divination. Note God's command against divination in Deuteronomy 18.

4. Occultist believe Halloween is a time of transition between life and death. Some occult practitioners...believe in lying on the grave and listening to the message from the long departed.

5. Occultist also taught that spirits and ghosts left the grave during this night and would seek out warmth in their previous homes. Villagers, fearful of the possibility of being visited by the ghosts, would dress up in costumes to scare the spirits on their way. They would also leave food and other "treats" at their door to appease the spirits.

6. Occultists also would try to scare away the spirits by carving a scary face into a pumpkin. Sometimes the villagers would light a candle and place it within the pumpkin and use it as a lantern.

7. In some witchcraft covens, the closing ritual includes eating an apple or engaging in fertility rites.

8. Schools are removing any religious significance from Christmas and Easter. Isn't it ironic that most public schools still celebrate Halloween even though it has occultic origins?

9. Participating in Halloween gives sanction to a holiday the promotes witches, divination, haunted houses and other occultic practices.

10. Christians should not endorse or promote Halloween in any way. "The night is nearly over; the day is almost near. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light." Romans 13:12

Source